Colombia y la implementación de la Estrategia Mundial para Reducir el Uso Nocivo de Alcohol de la Organización Mundial de la Salud

Abstract:Introduction. Alcohol consumption represents a public health problem; it is a causal factor in more than 200 diseases and disorders. Every year there are 3 million deaths in the world due to its consumption, which in turn represents 5.1% of the global burden of morbidity and injuries. In Colombia, alarming consumption figures are presented that require cost-effective policies.Objective: Analyze whether the existing regulations and the bills filed in the Congress of the Republic in 2013 or 2023 respond to the Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Consumption of Alcohol of the World Health Organization (WHO), whose objective is to offer guidance for act at all levels, identify priority areas for global action, and recommend policy options and cost-effective measures.Conclusions. Despite the existence of regulations and bills that relate to some of the 10 areas prioritized by the WHO Global Strategy to Reduce Harmful Consumption of Alcohol, there is no comprehensive alcohol consumption prevention policy that contains the 10 areas mentioned. There are disjointed policies and there are no guidelines for prohibiting the marketing of alcoholic beverages in the country.